Thin and Hollow
by TemptressOfTheSouthernIsles
Summary: Anna, a high school senior obsessed with creative writing and grades, becomes intrigued by the new girl: a skeleton-like Elsa, shy and timid, whose thin appearance may not be all natural. Modern Elsanna AU.
1. Chapter 1

Anna shuffled out of Chemistry class with a pile of books in one hand and a cold cappuccino in the other. It was nearly the end of the day; there would be only one more class period before she could head across town to the public library and finish off three pages of American Literature homework. Her glasses began slip to down the slope of her button-like nose. Because her hands were occupied, she hurried over to her best friend, Kristoff Bjorgman, who was retrieving his practice uniform for hockey training out of his over-stuffed locker.

"Once again, your glasses have descended," he nodded as he turned to notice her. He squatted down to match her height and then pushed a gentle finger up on her frames until they were properly balanced on her nose. "There. All better. Maybe if you'd gotten a pair of normal glasses and not those huge honkers, they'd fit properly."

"Shut up, dork," she smiled. "But thank you, Krissy."

He rolled his eyes at her, and then turned back to cramming his bag full of sweaty socks and underwear. "I thought I told you not to call me that."

She squirmed her mouth and watched him zip his things away. "Anyway, when will you be done with practice? Because I was thinking perhaps you could sneak a pizza into your hockey bag when we study at the library tonight. Food's not allowed, you know, but how do they expect us to blatantly starve in there?"

He glanced briefly into her eyes, a small glint of dread evident in his expression. "Sorry Anna, I can't go to the library tonight. I have a church program after practice... It's Wednesday, remember?"

"Ugh, _Kristoff_," she whined, stomping her petite foot. "We were supposed to work on the American Lit and lab homework together! You promised."

He shrugged and slung his bag over his shoulder, slamming the locker shut with his foot. "Maybe next time. Not like you've ever had a problem with doing your homework, anyway," he added, winking apologetically. With Anna still disappointed, the two ventured down the hallway and upstairs to the last class of the day: Advanced Composition.

"Good afternoon," the class's instructor, Mr. Fork, greeted the pair as they entered the class. The tardy bell rang, and Kristoff and Anna shared a special "we barely made it" look.

Their usual desks were located in the back row of the room, right in front of a wall layered with bright, sunny windows that let in all of the wonderful sounds and smells of springtime. Anna, not paying much attention as she made her way past the staring eyeballs of other students, was taken off guard when the desk she normally occupied was... well,_ taken._

Kristoff had already plopped down at his desk and was taking out his notebook when he noticed Anna standing by her desk, confused. "Sit down," he whispered, looking hurriedly at Mr. Fork as he shut the door and made his way to the marker board for instruction.

"I can't," she replied nervously, looking for an empty chair. "Somebody else's backpack is already on my seat."

"Huh?" he blinked. "_Everybody_ knows you sit there... and there's no other seats. It must be a new student or something."

"Is there a problem, Anna?" Mr. Fork asked. He peered at Anna from his stance at the marker board.

"Yes sir," she nodded. "I can't seem to find an available desk."

"Somebody _stole_ her desk," Kristoff added blunty. The class giggled.

"She can have my seat, sir," a strong, husky voice silenced the class. As he stood up, his ginger hair gleamed, and Anna fought the urge to roll her eyes; it was Hans who was offering his seat. He was one of the best hockey players Arendelle High had seen in decades. He was wearing a dark-blue letterman jacket, swinging his arms, and he turned around with his prideful eyes and made a curled smile at Anna. "Hell, she can _definitely_ have my seat, Fork."

The class giggled once again. It was well known throughout the school that Hans was perpetually trying to win Anna over. It wasn't because she was relatively popular or lusted after; she _was_ pretty, but her beauty was hidden by her huge glasses and large sweaters. And although she had a steady circle of good, respectable friends who each made a 4.0 grade point average much like herself, her closest friend was Kristoff Bjorgman, a rival on the ice to Hans. So perhaps it was her hard-to-get aura that constantly surrounded her which pressed the ginger jock. Hans wanted Anna simply because he_ couldn't_ have her.

"I'd rather sit on the floor," Anna retorted, eyes narrowed blankly. Eyebrows raised across the room, and several "_Oooh shit_"_s_ were exchanged.

Mr. Fork shook his head. "Students, let's act appropriately." He took a short pause and then looked back at Anna. "You might have to sit on the floor. There's a new student today and she's down at the academic counseling office, making changes to her schedule. She'll return shortly, I imagine."

"Is she hot?" Hans said, sitting back down and smiling at several of his friends.

"Not another word from you, Mr. Southerly."

* * *

Fifteen minutes passed. Anna sat on the floor with her legs criss-crossed. She was leaning over her notebook, making a journal entry, which was a significant part of her grade in the class. The words were beautifully written, making her mind go in states of fluvial wonder, into more treacherous states of dread and angst.

Lost inside the middle of a fleshy sentence, Anna almost missed the part of class where the new girl entered the room and took everyone's breath away.

The strawberry-blonde peered up from her notebook. She had heard the door open and close, followed by gasps and small, jaunty whispers. She figured the new girl probably looked like what Hans had asked: hot. Feeling shy, she pushed her glasses up to examine the mysterious figure who had taken her seat, but by the time her eyes were adjusted, the new girl was aleady sitting in the back row by Kristoff.

The first thing that caught Anna's eye was the thick, platinum-blonde hair that was braided and tossed across the new girl's shoulder. Anna had never seen such pretty blonde hair. And the new girl had seemed to enter the classroom and sit at her desk without making the slightest bit of sound, as if silent and floating, weightless. Her skin was pale. Anna noticed from the back of the new girl's neck that it was creamy and nearly translucent. And also, her legs, swinging dully under her chair, were thin like sticks.

_She's got an amazing metabolism, _Anna thought with an approving nod.

Her examination of the new girl came to a halt when, out of the blue, the girl's head flashed around.

The girl stared at Anna. The skin around her eyes was sunken in. Her cheekbones were hollow, and her lips were pressed together firmly, dry and pale. And that's when Anna caught sight of the girl's collarbone, how bony and razor-like it seemed to be.

The girl's blue eyes stared into Anna's own for the briefest second before flicking away. She then turned back to the front of the room and lowered herself deeper into her chair, hand twitching on the desk.

Anna understood with great clarity why everybody had gasped: this girl was a skeleton. Beautiful, but a goddamned skeleton.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: I'm SO sorry for the complete lack of updates! I've been doing college programs all summer (going to be a senior this year in high school). But I have free time now, and I'm ready to start this up again. Seriously, thanks for the support!

* * *

Something had stirred inside of her when the new girl looked into her eyes. It was as if she had seen through Anna's soul and collectively pulled it toward herself.

Anna could do nothing but simply tremble and examine the girl's bony backside, her glowing neck.

Unfortunately, by the time the bell rang, the mysterious platinum-blonde skeleton had gone up and speedily floated out of class, and then slipped into the crowd of fleeting students, thus spurring a mumbled, "Damn it," from Anna. Disappointed that she had missed her golden chance to evaluate the new girl furthermore, she gathered her things in a hectic manner, letting papers scatter and fall to the floor without giving the slightest care.

"Sloppy, sloppy..." Kristoff observed, smirking as he approached her from his desk.

Anna shook her head, unable to think clearly. Grasping a loosely braided pigtail, she tentatively asked,"Did you see the new girl, Krissy?"

"Oh," he mumbled, his face darkening. "Hell, there wasn't much to see..."

"Right," Anna confirmed. "She's like a skeleton."

He bent down and took some of the baggage off her load. They left the classroom and ventured down the hallway.

"Does that bother you?" Kristoff asked. He watched her wearily out of the corner of his eye.

"Bother me?" Anna scoffed. "That's utterly ridiculous. It doesn't _bother_ me. Not in the slightest sense. But it does..." she squinted hard, trying to pinpoint the exact word to convey her feelings. Nothing came to mind. "It does... Well, I don't know."

"Sounds like it bothers you."

"_Shut up_. Well, there's your team. Seeya around."

"Yup. Seeya around."

He gave her a soft nudge in the shoulder and then turned to the auxiliary gym down the hall, where Hans and some of the other guys had been gawking at the pair. Anna briefly gazed at them- most discerningly at Hans, who wore a nasty sneer on his face. Annoyed by the mere sight of him, she spun on her heels to the nearest exit.

As she entered the sunlight of the afternoon, she felt somebody trail behind her.

"Anna, wait up!"

She whipped around, pleased to see her fruitful friend, Rapunzel, bounding toward her. The long-haired blonde beauty was still wearing her painter's uniform from art class. Splotches of red and blue paint were brushed over her cheeks and fingers, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Hey girl!" Rapunzel gushed, slightly out of breath once next to Anna's side. "Quick question. What are you doing this Saturday?"

Anna tilted her head and thought about it. "I don't think I'm doing anything."

"Then come to Pride!"

"Pride?"

"Pride," Rapunzel said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She reached into her waist-bag and pulled out a rainbow-colored flier. "You know, the parade that champions gay rights. I figured you'd be interested, 'cause _you know_." She paused, biting her lip, eyebrows raised at the redhead to evoke emphasis.

Anna simply stared in shock as Rapunzel's hand clutching the flier was outreached, trembling slightly in midair. Her green left eye twitched, and she cocked her head to the side and felt a rush of confusion at Punzie's statement. "What do you mean by that?" she asked after a moment's pause.

"Well, you're_ gay_," Rapunzel said. Her hand dropped to her side. "... I mean, you are, right?"

"Who told you that?" Anna demanded. But then, realizing that wasn't the appropriate answer, she corrected herself: "I mean, I'm not. But who told you that?"

"I heard it from Ariel. She was talking about it in choir," Rapunzel said. She let out a soft breath of sympathy, eyes pouting."God, I'm so sorry Anna. I guess it's just a rumor?"

"No, no, don't apologize. You were just trying to do a nice thing for me." Feeling loved, she gave Punz a bright smile and then pulled her in for a hug, although in her expression it was evident she was quite distracted. As she pulled away, she gasped. "But wait- are _you_ gay?"

"No, silly!" she smiled. "Flynn and I are in charge for the design of the school's float! Apparently our school has a gay-straight alliance."

Another pause lingered. Anna's eyes flickered from Rapunzel's gaze to the ground. Deep shades of red had filled her freckled cheeks.

"Well, have fun with that," Anna laughed finally. "I better run. Thanks for the support, Punz. You're such a great friend."

* * *

_They know I'm gay?_

Anna was lying on her bed, one arm flung outward, with the other one clutching her snowflake-patterned phone.

"Krissy, I just don't see how anybody besides you could know about my gayness..." she whispered into the receiver. The two had been discussing this identity ordeal for over an hour. Each time she suspected somebody was hanging outside her door, she'd lower her voice even more and glare at the shadows under the crack. Her parents weren't exactly keen on gay rights, and she clearly didn't want them to know anything.

"Don't worry about it. Just tell everybody you're straight," Kristoff's voice suggested kindly on the other line. After a pause, he added, "Or you could just say fuck it and let everybody know who you are. Be yourself."

"That's not an option," she replied automatically. "You know that'd gross my parents out. And anyway, I don't want to be labeled in high school. Not at this age."

As Kristoff fumbled with unfathomable words on the other line, clearly uncomfortable with his inability to provide solace for his best friend, Anna sighed desperately and hung up the phone. She flung it across the room and then buried her burning face deep into her arms, glasses cramming up against her elbow. In a race of speedy thoughts, she decided plain and firmly that she'd go to school the next day and act as if the rumors weren't true. It would be easy enough. She'd been playing straight for most of her life, she could easily do it for another few semesters.

But then something cold entered her mind: the image of that girl in her Composition class.

"Oh christ," she hissed.

Everything about that girl was too damn peculiar. She was_ interesting. _Nobody had ever mesmerized Anna the way this one had. But in a haughty sort of way, Anna was annoyed by this new feeling. The redhead simply couldn't figure out why she was so interested, and this unsureness discomforted her, adding another layer of stress to her situation.

Her fingernails dug into the sheets.

* * *

It was a new day, a bright morning, and Anna, for the first time ever, was contemplating skipping school. She bounded up the steps to the front entrance alone, lonely because Kristoff was still attending early morning hockey practice. In one hand, she held a glass jar of straight black coffee; in the other hand, a bundle of poetry books.

As she trudged up the stone steps, she noticed unmissable red hair out of the corner of her eyes: a trademark that belonged famously to Ariel, who happened to be the source of the gay rumors. Ariel was beautiful and seemingly kind-hearted, and as she walked up the front steps, linking palms with her swim-team boyfriend, Eric, she stopped dead in her tracks upon meeting Anna's gaze.

"Eric, look! It's Anna!" Ariel exclaimed, sending a fist into his chest. He coughed, blinked his eyes, and turned to the frightful strawberry-blonde.

Anna's eyes grew wide. She gulped, expecting the pair to gawk and laugh, not knowing if they were comfortable with her sexuality. But much to her surprise, both of their hands immediately shot forward. Eric's hand grabbed Anna's first, and he shook it vigorously, pride glazed in his handsome expression.

"I have to say, I'm really proud of you, Anna," he said.

Ariel pushed his arm away and shook Anna's limp hand in a more effeminate manner. "Me too! When I heard about you coming out, I almost teared up. It's so neat how the times are changing."

Shell shocked, Anna could only stand frozen and absorb their words of kindness. Their support was beyond anything she'd expected.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Kristoff had a firm grip on Anna's shoulders, breathing heavily and ignoring the sweat-soaked hair that stuck to his forehead, "you're going to stay out of the closet? You're going to be an openly gay girl!? My best friend doesn't care if she's gay anymore?"

Anna burst into a mix of laughter and tears. She lunged herself forward and dug her face into her heaving chest. "Yes! God, Krissy. I don't know what I was afraid of. Everyone's been nothing but supportive. This feeling is... overwhelming."

His hand ran down her backside soothingly. "I am so unbelievably proud of you, best friend. I might cry."

"I won't judge," she laughed into his shirt.

"Well, well, well..." a slimy voice penetrated the air. Pulling away from Kristoff, Anna turned to give an expression of pure disgust at the obvious source of the interruption: Hans.

His sneer was complimented by the obstreperous nature of his thick sideburns. He kicked an empty can of soda toward Anna with his boot, lips curled into an hazardous smile.

"You must be proud of me," he said after a lingering tension, slowly inching closer to the pair. "I pushed you out of the nest, little Anna."

"Out of the nest?" she asked, looking questionably at Kristoff, who had narrowed his once-innocent brown eyes.

"Out of the nest," Hans nodded. "You know, the nest of closeted lesbians."

It took a small moment for this phrase to click in Anna's mind.

"It was _you_ who started the rumor!" Her jaw dropped, and in a flash, she was holding Kristoff back as he immediately lunged for the ginger asshole.

Anna could see the pleasure in Hans' eyes as he watched them struggle under the news. Anna, nearly having to twist Kristoff's log of an arm, whispered urgently into his ear to let her handle it. He backed down reluctantly, but still glared at Hans with full loads of intense hatred.

"I'll have you know, Hans," Anna said, recomposing herself and narrowing her eyes in a careless attitude, "this rumor has been the best thing to happen to me in a long, long time. Thanks."

Although Hans carried a casual demeanor, it was evident by a small shift of emotion in his eyes that he was slightly surprised by Anna's words.

"_Wait-_ you're actually gay?" he asked, dumbstruck.

"Gay as hell," she responded, grabbing a simmering Kristoff by the hand and heading down the hall to lunch.

* * *

Rather than eat lunch, Anna decided to spend her free period in the school's library. For one thing, she had too many overdue poetry books to turn in; and besides, the attention she would have received in the lunchroom wasn't something she particularly looked forward to, being the dorky introvert that she was. She entered the desolate library, turned her books into the librarian, and headed straight for the fiction aisles.

"Take my hand, take my whole life too..." she hummed the lyrics to her favorite song under her breathe, "Cause I can't help falling in love with you."

As her fingers softly traveled across interesting titles, she found an old book that caught her eye: "_Of Human Bondage_".

"Seems perty interesting," she sang in the rhythm of her song. She brought the book to her face and opened the pages, smelling the beautifully alluring smell of the old book. The pages were creamy, dense, and musky. "Ah, god..."

She looked up into the empty space where the book had originally been.

On the other side of the shelf, peering at Anna through blue shimmering eyes, was the new girl, her small mouth crinkling at the corners in some sort of smile, and her head tilted as she met eyes with the strawberry-blonde.

Anna gasped. The new girl gasped.

Not knowing what to do, Anna immediately pushed the book back into place and then sunk slowly to the ground, breathing heavily.

_Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. It was HER. She smiled at me. Oh my GOD!_

She mentally counted to five, and then slowly inched upward on her knees. Using the small tips of her fingers, she loosely tried to wiggle _Of Human Bondage_ out of its place once more, expecting to catch another glimpse of the new girl on the other side.

"What are you doing?"

Anna whipped around, heart literally skipping beats, and stared straight into the new girl's eyes. Again.

This time, she was closer than Anna had ever imagined she'd be. Standing before her, Anna could see all of her features; the new girl had seemed razor-like from the backside, but from the front side it was even worse. Her legs looked like illusions; they were unbelievably small and slimly-fitted into a pair of normal sized black jeans, leading Anna to immediately suspect a belt was being used to hold them up. A blue fleece jacket was zipped up her front torso, but it seemed awkwardly huge on her. And once again, her platinum-blonde hair was done up in a distinguished braid, loosely hung over her shoulder.

Suddenly realizing that the girl was still patiently and kindly waiting for a response, Anna's mind morphed into a bumbling squirrel brain.

"I.. um.." Anna blankly stared, blinking profusely. "I was looking for this book right here." She tapped the thick cover, swallowing a bit and ignoring the overbearing blush that dominated her cheeks.

"May I see it?" the girl asked softly, holding a frail hand outward. Her eyes were coolly locked on Anna's, not revealing anything but shy curiosity.

"S-s-sure," Anna shrugged, knees wobbling as she put the book into the girl's hand. The girl's tiny, trembling hand.

The girl brought the book closer to her eyes. The book's thick weight strained the muscles in her fingers as her veins popped out from her creamy skin. She scanned the title, then sighed quietly and peered up into Anna's intense gaze. "Do you enjoy reading books like this?"

Anna flicked her eyes from the book to the girl's curious face. "I know it's a little boring, but I-"

"You're not boring," the girl interjected calmly.

Stunned by this seemingly normal phrase, Anna turned away from the girl and silently squealed to herself. Once recomposed, she turned back, faking a mask of calm serenity.

"You're not boring either," she blurted.

_That was most definitely the most stupid thing you've ever said, _she cringed inwardly, wanting to crawl into a ball of misery.

But the new girl's small crinkling smile that had been present during the entire conversation seemed to grow slightly larger at this. Without a word, she slowly placed the book in Anna's hand, took a few staggering breathes, and glanced down the aisle to where some chairs were placed.

Anna took the hint. "Do you wanna' sit down?" she asked, beginning to sway on her feet to the chairs.

But the girl only shook her head. The crinkling smile slowly faded from her lips, and small emotion emerged in her cloud eyes. "Before this goes further, I want to apologize for yesterday. I believe I took your seat in Composition class, is that correct?" Her voice reminded Anna of a laundry line, how it was so quiet and faded indirectly between words, and yet how feminine her voice was, so punctuate, so nice to hear.

Anna hadn't even begun to think about the class they shared. The seating situation was overtly trivial, nothing she cared remotely about. "Oh, that was fine! I didn't even care about that, honestly."

The girl nodded, seriousness in her expression. Her matchstick neck made her nods look rather odd. "I should have known it was your seat. I'm sorry."

Anna's heart exploded. Before she could blink, the girl had sunk her head, hugged her fleeced chest tightly, and begun staggering over to the chairs alone.

"Wait, no! I promise on the Bible I don't care about the seat situation! It was fun sitting on the floor," she exclaimed, frantically running after the girl. "Hey, what's your name?"

The girl's reaction was sluggish. She drug her neck upward and widened her blue eyes at Anna, whose energy was undeniable. Anna swayed on her heels, tipping between both feet as she watched the girl's reaction.

Her expression softened slightly, the seriousness seemed to fade, and she answered, "Elsa." She paused quietly, looked down at the ground, and then looked back upward, asking, "What's your name?" with the crinkles returning.

"Anna," the strawberry-blonde returned, grinning slyly but still blushing rather noticeably. "Where you from? _Hey,_ is everything alright?"

Elsa had almost fully tipped forward, and in a daze, Anna had caught her readily. The redhead brought the dreamy blonde to a steady stance, and then immediately lead her to have a seat in the chair.

"Sit here," Anna whispered, her heart thumping. The blush and butterflies had gone away. Now she felt sickened at the stomach as Elsa's eyes were closed firmly, her mouth pressed together with her fists clenched.

After a few moments of Anna sitting there on her knees, holding Elsa by the arms, Elsa's eyes cracked open. Color began to slowly but surely drain back into her face. "I'm so sorry," Elsa breathed after a few long seconds. There was nothing but shame on her face. "That happens sometimes."

"What was that?" Anna asked, still holding a grip on her arms, her terrified eyes frightfully scanning Elsa's.

"It's nothing," Elsa whispered, before quietly adding her name, "Anna. It's really nothing. Thank you."

The bell rang, marking the end of lunch period. Anna felt an immediate surge of regret. She wanted so badly to stay in that spot, in her current position, for the rest of time. She liked the strange maternal feeling she felt toward Elsa. She liked the way she smiled, how pretty she was... She liked holding her fleece sweater.

"Oh," she uttered, realizing she still had a hold of Elsa's arms. Blushing, she let the blonde go and stood to her feet. "We better get to class. Want me to walk you there?"

"It's only down the hall," Elsa said, rising quickly to her feet. She staggered once again for a split moment, spurring Anna to hold her arms out, but this time she recomposed herself. Her slanted eyebrows and daunting smile reassured Anna, and she took a deep breathe of relief.

"I guess I'll see you in last period," Anna gushed, scratching her head and not budging.

"I'm looking forward to it," Elsa replied, and for the first time there seemed to be a faint hint of blush in her frigid face as well. But her eyes were still reluctant, and she shyly glanced away from Anna's admirable stare.

_Kristoff's not going to believe this._


End file.
